


Jolly Holly

by mattzerella_sticks



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Coda, Cute, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Making Out, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21656419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattzerella_sticks/pseuds/mattzerella_sticks
Summary: With all the mistletoe hanging around, at some point Eddie and Buck had to end up under some. And if it doesn't come to pass, then someone will have to take matters into their own hands.Will a stolen moment at the Christmas Party lead to something more?
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 10
Kudos: 311





	Jolly Holly

**Author's Note:**

> That was a really good fall finale (although it could've been a bit better... and here's how lol)
> 
> A little ledge to make waiting on the cliff easier :)

Buck drags him down the fire station’s stairs, Eddie chuckling at the excitement splashed across his face. Their station’s stand-in for a dalmation. If he grew a tail between blinks Eddie bets it would wag fast enough to blow him away. Although not really. The tight grip cutting blood off his blood flow and turning his hand purple needs jaws of life tearing through it for a chance at freedom.

Freedom was overrated in his opinion.

“Where are you taking me?” he asks, feet stuttering in the wake of Buck’s haphazard pulling.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it,” Buck tells him, “...not far.” They turn the corner around the ambulance and Buck slams against the side. Eddie knocks into him, drawing further laughter from them both.

“Okay, okay,” Eddie says, creating space between them with a gentle shove. Hand lingering against Buck’s chest. “I’m here… why?”

Buck sucks his bottom lip under his teeth, glancing away from Eddie. He tries to see what drew the other man’s attention but the ambulance blocks them from view of the entire firehouse. A private corner for only two.

“Well…” he starts without prompt, startling Eddie. “We’ve been here for a few hours now and… you have _yet_ to thank me for planning this whole get-together.”

Eddie rolls his eyes, head lolling to the side and resting against the ambulance’s side. _Thunk_. “And this is how you want it? In private?”

Shrugging, Buck mirrors his pose. Birthmark pinching with his smile like an adorable kidney bean. “Didn’t want you to embarrass yourself in front of everyone when you fell to your knees in praise.”

“Oh, yeah,” his knees buckle slightly. Eddie sags halfway and widens the already great height difference between them. “Thank you Evan for making this one of the best Christmases I’ve ever experienced on this Earthly plane. For making it so I didn’t miss spending today with my son and ensuring that he won’t grow up hating me and when I’m on my deathbed he’ll be there with tears in his eyes!” His snickers grew the more he spoke, until Eddie’s vision blurred from squinted eyes. Buck leans forward and laughs through quiet huffs, arms wrapped around his stomach. Eddie’s hand trails down Buck’s chest and latches onto his arm. Limply dangling, holding on with a finger or two.

“Something like that,” Buck says, wiping at his stretched cheeks, “I mean, I didn’t do this _all_ because of you. Nice that you think so, though. Makes me feel better about my big head.”

“No one’s head’ll ever be bigger than yours… _Buck_.” He lightly scuffs his friend’s chin with his knuckles while he pops the ‘B’.

The bright smile shudders for a beat, sliding into a pout. But like a roller coaster it climbs high and returns to where it was. “So much for gratitude…”

“Gratitude?” he scoffs, “you mean my plaintive thanks wasn’t enough for you?”

“Well… if we’re talking…”

“What? What else could you want?”

Something tickles his forehead. Eddie glances up and finds a sprig of mistletoe waiting. His heart bounces up into his throat and wedges itself tightly, not powerful enough to choke but makes each swallow hurt. “You want a…”

“A kiss,” Buck says, soft like the leaves against his skin, “That’s all.”

“A kiss?”

“Yeah… you can say a lot with a kiss. Figured it’d beat you trying to find the perfect words to thank me with.”

Eddie’s lips thin into a firm line. “How long have you been hiding that?”

Buck brings the mistletoe closer, inspecting it. “Swiped it after our picture… it was hanging over us, then, y’know. Could’ve made you kiss me there. But like I said… didn’t want to embarrass you too much in public.”

His eyes nearly roll off his face. “You’re too much, Buck.”

“You mean you’re not gonna kiss me?”

“You think you deserve it?”

“I mean, a little,” Buck says, other hand showing off its finger and thumb, a scant inch of space separating them. “Coordinating all of this with Athena behind everyone’s backs… working with the group home to get all the kids here… promising Abuela I’d be her date at the next senior potluck if she told me what presents Christopher already had waiting for him so I could buy him a little gift.”

His legs wobble of their own accord, Eddie glad for the ambulance’s support. Reminded of Christopher in this moment, how his face lit up brighter than a Christmas tree’s when Buck revealed the present. “It’s my second favorite thing,” he told them, “after being able to spend the day with my dad…”

Buck dragged Christopher into a hug, finding Eddie easily over his son’s shoulder. The expression on his face so tempting mistletoe would be an excuse but not the reason.

“That,” Eddie says, voice low and gravelly, “that, uh… that was a hefty price to pay.”

“Worth it to see how happy it made him,” he shrugs, “how happy it made _you_.”

Eddie leaps towards Buck and catches him off guard, the mistletoe bouncing at their feet. His hand cradles Buck’s face, keeps it still so their lips can crash into each other. Buck’s nose tickles Eddie’s cheek. Tiny jolts cascading from the point of contact and spreading through every nerve. He imagines Buck looks shocked, but can’t muster the strength to open his eyes from when they slipped close.

Luckily, when Eddie pulls away, Buck’s remain shut. They flutter open a second later, awe shining like he stole the sun and trapped it in his gaze. Its warmth melts the block of ice his heart became, allowing it to melt to where it belongs. “What…” Buck whispers, “what was that?”

He barks a short laugh. “A kiss. What you wanted.”

“I didn’t think you’d actually go through with it!”

“I’m not one to back down, Buck,” Eddie smirks, slipping two fingers past his collar to curl around his neck, “Are you?”

Buck grins, trembling hands dancing at his sides. “Hell no. C’mere and shower me with more of that _gratitude_.”

“Without mistletoe?”

“We never needed that weed.”

Eddie agrees, Buck’s lips draining the remnants of his will to fight. One taste like shotgunning forty cans of eggnog at once, the rush dizzying. They turn, Eddie pushing off the ambulance and splaying Buck’s back against it. Hands that grazed hips flew upwards. Tugging at his hair and squeezing his bicep. He grins into the kiss, tracing the sharp angles of Buck’s face and following a path lower. Massaging the one part of the other man that’s _only_ curves.

“ _Oh_! Oh, I’m sorry -”

They crumble, Eddie tripping over himself in shock. He stares at May, the younger girl frozen by the edge of the ambulance. Her eyes dart from the ground to Eddie to Buck and to the ground again. “May -”

“I, I didn’t mean to intrude,” she says, face heating up, “Mom needed Buck to help with dishes - part of the deal he made with her that he’d clean up if she set up. Denny saw you two come down here, and since Harry was playing with Chris she made me come over and check and - if I had known you two were…”

“Mistletoe!”

Both May and Eddie glance at Buck, the other man burning a shade similar to their firetruck. “What?” she asks.

“We were, we were caught under some mistletoe,” he explains, kicking at the near-forgotten decoration, “And, y’know what happens when two people are under… are under mistletoe…” Buck seizes, hands snapping and pointing in a series of aborted gestures that worries Eddie. Neither respond to his antics, however, and the panicked expression shifts into resignation. “Yeah, I’ll be up their in a moment to clean up.”

“Okay…”

“And May,” Eddie calls to her, attempting a smile, “maybe keep this on the low?”

She sighs, “Sure. I mean… it was mistletoe.”

“‘Atta girl.” He waves goodbye, waiting until May fully disappears to give Buck his full attention. Eddie moves closer to him, approaching cautiously like he would a wounded deer. The other man rubs at his eyes, quietly muttering to himself. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah,” Buck tells him, “Just completely mortified at having a teenager catching us acting like -”

“Like teenagers?”

“Yeah…”

His hand hesitates near his shoulder, unsure whether or not he should close the gap. “This,” he starts, sweetness in his mouth sharply decaying into bitterness, “this… you were okay with this, and - and what we -”

“Yes,” Buck cuts him off, throwing his hands off in further panic. Drawing him in with wide eyes. “Of course,” he continues, “I… I liked it. I _really_ like it… But, I’m not sure if I’m ready for the whole team to know -”

Eddie relaxes, squeezing Buck’s shoulder. “They won’t. May’s a good kid, she’ll keep this under wraps until we’re ready.”

“You think?”

“I mean maybe not _forever_ ,” he levels with him, smirking, “Athena’ll probably get a whiff that something’s up and it won’t be long before she figures it out.”

“That sounds like her…”

“So,” Eddie shrugs, thumb rhythmically brushing against his shirt, “maybe tonight… when Christopher’s tuckered out. We can continue where we left off and… sort a few things out. And,” his face hurts from the splitting grin stretching out his lips, “I’ll even let you bring the mistletoe.”

Buck laughs, drifting towards Eddie and ghosting their lips together in imitation of a kiss. Fuels the burning desire inside for more of a taste. “ _Perfect_ ,” he says, spinning around Eddie, “now let’s hurry up. The faster we clean the quicker we can end our shift.”

“We?” Eddie asks, following, “How did I get roped into this?”

“Remember that day when you walked into the 118?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s how!”

Eddie shakes his head at how Buck races away, hopping up the steps. He waits at the bottom. Prefers to wait and let the past few minutes soak into him. Clutches the banister when the memory of Buck’s lips. Buck calls for him. “I’m coming, I’m coming!”

Of course Eddie will help Buck. It’s the foundation of their relationship, and of who they are as people. Together they can overcome everything, including a sink full of messy dishes.

Especially when it’s the only thing keeping them from each other. The last thing.

Finally.

“Merry Christmas, Buck,” Eddie says, elbow deep in suds, fingers pruning.

Buck smiles, scans the room before blowing a soft kiss Eddie’s way. “Merry Christmas.”

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? Let me know by dropping a kudos & a comment!


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